Weddingbee

I owe a few wedding related updates… I did get the Tacori ring, but can’t seem to take a decent photo. I love it by the way.

Also, 13 months later, I’ve f-i-n-a-l-l-y lost most of the baby weight (although still not quite wedding thin), so I’m thinking of wearing my wedding top for our second anniversary.
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So, in my usual decisive manner (haha!), I don’t think I like the Scott Kay ring anymore. This is my current front runner:

The brand is Tacori and it’s a little more than the Scott Kay ring, but I feel like I’d be getting more for my money! I need to order it from Bailey Banks by Saturday to get the 10% off (although I’m sure I could sweet talk them into extending the offer). My one issue with the ring is that they are showing it with a 2+ carat center stone, while mine is just over 1.5 carats — I actually think it will look better with a smaller stone, but I wish I could see it first! What do you think?

Yesterday I received a card from a very dear friend thanking me for the lovely lasagna pan I got her for her shower. One minor problem … the gift wasn’t from me!

Let me start from the beginning. My friend is getting married in December. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend her wedding shower in Washington, DC last month. It was an “Around the House” shower, so we were asked to bring a gift for the kitchen or entertaining around the house, and to also bring a favorite recipe (great idea!).

If I was better organized, I would have sent a gift directly to her bridesmaid hosting the shower, but, alas, by the time I made it to the Macy’s website, I’d have to overnight the present, which was silly. Also, my friend and her fiance will be leaving the country after getting married, so I didn’t think it made sense for her to get too many pots and pans! I did email my Turkey Chili recipe in time and last week (a little late!) sent her a Victoria’s Secret gift card (for …. um … entertaining around the house).

What to do now? Should I email her? What do I say?

Mr. Firefly is sweet and wonderful, but not exactly the creative type. When he proposed many moons ago (April 2005!), he wasn’t sure what type of ring I would want, so he went with a very simple, 4-prong, white gold setting. His thought was that I would go back to the jeweler and have the stone reset, but I liked it and I thought it looked good on my hand…

…Fast forward to late into my pregnancy, one day at work I looked down and one of the prongs was up! Holy #&^*?&^!!!! The ring is insured, but I’d be crushed if I lost the stone and who really wants to fight with an insurance company?

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… sooooo, some of you might be wondering why I disappeared last year …. here’s a hint.

Although I was comfortable posting all of the details of my wedding, I just didn’t feel the same about my pregnancy or the baby. And now… well… time time time… so much time, so little to do (I wish!). I still try to keep up with my ladies, but rarely write comments.

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A funny thing happened to me since last June — I lost interest in the “wedding” — the party, the shoes, the personalized napkins, the I-never- got-around-to-making cocktail menu, the place card “disaster” — and started paying a lot more attention to the marriage.

Suddenly, what are we having for dinner began to trump post-wedding related tasks. My dress didn’t go to the cleaners until December, the thank you notes didn’t get finished until… gulp… last week (!). I still haven’t started dealing with the wedding album, and my last name remains unchanged (although I’m sure my hubby would call this marriage, rather than wedding, related).

I decided to post here to put myself on notice and get my act together. Below is a list of wedding related tasks that remain and that must (must must must) be started in the coming weeks and (hopefully) completed by our one-year anniversary:

1 - Order photos on Shutterfly to make mini-albums for my mom, grandparents and Mr. Firefly’s sister. I have already purchased this Celine Countryman brag book for one of the albums — each page fits a 4×6 print. I might go with something a bit fancier for my mother if I decide to forgo the standard 5×7 white leather parents’ album.

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While the guests were eating the yummy cocktail hour food, we took family photos and then Mr. Firefly and I went off to take pictures on our own. I originally want to drive around the city to get some urban photos, but ultimately, was a bit scared of getting caught in traffic and being late to our own reception! Instead, we drove down to South Street Seaport and finished off the photos in Battery Park. We got a few nice pictures at the Seaport, but I almost wish we just stayed in Battery Park and enjoyed a portion of the cocktail hour.

Don’t worry, I won’t post a bazillion family photos. This is the entire family and bridal party… not a very large group.

While Leah was taking group shots, her assistant took some great closeups:

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I decided to forgo traditional favors and have a photobooth instead. I went with NYC Photobooth and found them very easy to work with. The owners scoped out Battery Gardens before the wedding to be sure that the logistics were set, and on the day of the wedding they set up the photobooth early so that they would be out of my hair.

The photobooth wasn’t cheap — around $1600 for 5 hours — certainly more than I would have spent on favors. Was it worth it? Yes and no. Some of my guests loved it and the photobooth was very popular during the cocktail hour. But once guests moved upstairs for dinner, only the diehards went back down to take more pictures. I think the photobooth would have gotten much more use if all of the wedding events were on the same floor. I did wind up with a great photo guest book, but I probably could have gotten a somewhat similar result with a polaroid camera. A

Paper Products: I ordered program covers, menu cards, table numbers and place cards from White Aisle. The plan was to go the DIY route until I realized that I was designing in 3-colors (rgb) and most printers print in 4 colors (CYMK). What looked like chartreuse green on my screen and print-outs turned into a drab olive when I got it back from the printers! I was bummed.

With 3 weeks to go, I turned to Rebecca at White Aisle. She turned around some fantastic designs within the day and I was good to go. The program covers (I printed the insides at Kinkos to save time) and menu cards came out beautifully. Ribbon is from M&J Trimming. The table numbers were ok — the flower design was very light and didn’t really get picked up in pictures.

The place cards were… all wrong! There were some cards with 2 or 3 completely unrelated names. It basically looked like she didn’t bother to check them. Of course, I didn’t check the place cards until 2 days before the wedding (I received them around a week before the wedding).

To be fair, I never contacted White Aisle because perhaps they could have sent me new cards in time… instead, I ran around my neighborhood and found the best thing I could — not-so-micro perforated sheets of place cards at Staples and little flowers to decorate. They turned out okay, but I was disappointed. I always meant to contact White Aisle to get the money for the cards back, but never bothered.

Program Covers/Menu Cards: A, Table Numbers: B, Place Cards: D

Last minute DIY place cards — I think they look better in photos than in real life. But I’d give myself a B+ for the last minute job.

Garter and Ring Pillows: The woman who runs Gartermaker is a former knottie (website seems to be down). The garter was very pretty — but I have no pictures! The ring pillows are below. They were super cheap — around $11 each and I added the buttons and rings myself. A

Some more details…

Children’s set-up

Bird cage

The Fireplace

Wonderful cocktail hour that we missed (taking photos) :(. I wish the photographer had gotten more photos of the food!

… to be continued.

You know how at times, you lose interest in the wedding planning process… well, it happens post wedding too! Gosh, I’m just not that into it right now. Weird… The next “Chapter” of photos are some detail shots. I’m sure everyone is ready to see pictures of something other than ME!

Flowers: Antheia Floral Design. I went with Angie at Antheia based on the gorgeous romantic bouquets on her website, and she didn’t disappoint. The Huppah was fantastic and the centerpieces/other flowers were great as well. I never asked Angie for a sample and was very happy with the turn-out. A

Cocktail hour decor

Escort Card Table

Huppah

The Reception:

Personal Flowers:

Cake: Carlos Bakery in Hoboken. The cake was delish and they didn’t have a problem when I changed the design the week of the wedding. It came out beautiful. Some girls in NYC (like me) think of Carlos as a “budget” vendor because he’s in Hoboken. He’s not, the cake was quite pricey — around $8.50 per person with a 100-person main cake and 50-person sheet cake (of course, I only wound up having 100 people at the wedding … hey, where did all of my extra cake go!). A

To be continued…